People travel by aircraft to see the sites or attend events. Travel for Aircraft is about travel for aircraft to see them in their various locations — be they museums, static displays, airfield ramps or languishing in fields.

Alabama Helicopter Satay along US 231

I was driving along US 231 into southeastern Alabama from Florida recently, primarily on my way to visit the U.S. Army Aviation Museum near Daleville, Alabama on the grounds of Fort Rucker — where the nation first trains its Army aviators. Along the way there were many photo opportunities and a few of them were Bell helicopters, two Hueys and a Cobra, mounted atop poles — helicopter satays.

31º 00′ 29″ N / 85º 24′ 25″ W

The first stop was at the Alabama welcome center situated 0.7 miles (1.1km) from the state line on US 231. This is a beautiful rest stop that has plentiful parking as well as an immense green field for picnics and play. Adjacent to the entrance at the north end of the field is this Bell UH-1 Iroquois. A note: the UH-1 originally was designated HU-1, which was pronounced as “Huey”, a nickname which has remained with this helicopter through the decades.

Bell UH-1 Iroquois at the Alabama Welcome Center on US 231 just across the state line with Florida — photo by Joe May

Rear aspect of the Huey at the US 231 Welcome Center in Alabama — photo by Joe May

31º 28′ 10″ N / 85º 40’39″ W

The second helicopter satay, also on US 231, was the northern end of Ozark, Alabama. This, too, is a Huey and it is hard to spot since it is set back from the western side of the highway approximately 30 yards (~27m) with its camouflaged fuselage nearly perfectly blending into the stand of trees immediately to the rear. That being said it is a somewhat rare display since the navigation lights are blinking and it has a welcome sign at its base — though there is no proper parking one can easily use the road shoulder.

Ozark Alabama's welcoming Bell UH-1 Iroquois — photo by Joe May

A closer view of Ozark's Huey — photo by Joe May

31º 47′ 07″ N / 85º 57′ 49″ W

Finally, for this segment of the road trip, was the stop in Troy Alabama where a Bell AH-1 Cobra sits atop its stick in quaint Bicentennial Park. The park is located on the northeastern corner of the major intersection of US 231 and S Brundidge St (turn north onto S Brundidge then immediately east onto Old Brundidge Rd). Parking is unclear but road shoulders and parking lots of businesses are very near.